ESXi hostd service fails to start

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• The Enter Maintenance Mode task hangs for an extended period.

• The hostd service stops shortly after starting.

• In the hostd.log file, you may observe error entries similar to the following,

  [YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] Er(163) Hostd[243564257]: [Originator@6876 sub=Libs] ConfigFile: /etc/vmware/esx.conf: read failed: ConfigParser: 51,1: assignment character expected
  
  [YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] Er(163) Hostd[243564257]: [Originator@6876 sub=Libs] ConfigFile: /etc/vmware/esx.conf: read failed: ConfigParser: 51,1: assignment character expected
  [YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] Er(163) Hostd[243564257]: [Originator@6876 sub=Hostsvc] N6VmkCtl6Config19ConfigFileExceptionE(/etc/vmware/esx.conf: read failed: ConfigParser: 51,1: assignment character expected)
  [YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] In(166) Hostd[243564260]: [Originator@6876 sub=Hostsvc] Host NVMe qualified name: 'nqn.2014-08.local.gstn:nvme:HP-ESXI-01'
  [YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] Cr(162) Hostd[243564257]: [Originator@6876 sub=Default] error: N3Vim5Fault19PlatformConfigFault9ExceptionE(Fault cause: vim.fault.PlatformConfigFault
  [YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] Cr(162) Hostd[243564257]: --> )
  [YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] Cr(162) Hostd[243564257]: --> [context]zKq7AVICAgAAAP////8QaG9zdGQAAFMnQGxpYnZtYWNvcmUuc28AAT58U2hvc3RkAAGmyJABKv+tAUFOrgEFVK4Bb8yOATzYjgG6jY4AHTFBAdPSXAE2slwB199cAZW3UAJdHQJsaWJjLnNvLjYAAVVfUw==[/context]
  (END)

Cause

The failure of the hostd service to start is caused by a corrupted esx.conf file. The configuration file is incorrectly formatted, leading to syntax issues.

Resolution

To resolve the issue, follow these steps:

1. Connect to the ESXi host via SSH.
   
   
2. Navigate to the esx.conf file: /etc/vmware/esx.conf


3. Back up the current configuration file: cp /etc/vmware/esx.conf /etc/vmware/esx.conf_bak


4. Edit the file to correct the syntax: vi /etc/vmware/esx.conf
   Ex: /adv/Misc/LogHost ###.##.###.##:###  -->  /adv/Misc/LogHost = "###.##.###.##:###"


5. Save the changes and exit the editor.
   
   
6. Restart the hostd service: /etc/init.d/hostd restart